ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio University field hockey team (0-2) suffered a 7-0 setback to No. 5-ranked Syracuse University (3-0) on Monday (Sept. 1) at Pruitt Field.

 

The Orange scored five of their seven goals in the first half.

 

"We didn't start very well," said 10th-year head coach Neil Macmillan. "We didn't possess the ball, and, the first 15 minutes, we didn't defend very well. We gave up too many opportunities. On the other side, I think we had about as many shots and corners as we had yesterday (Sunday against Boston University). We were actually getting forward and getting some opportunities, but they were also not as tight in the back as they might have been had that been a closer game. But, that's a positive thing to look at."

 

Freshman Maria Russell (Hudson, Ohio) led the Bobcats with two shots while redshirt senior Lauryl Desch (Charlottesville, Va.) and freshman Rachel Kho (Oakville, Ontario) each posted shots on goal.

 

Freshman back Annalena Ulbrich opened the scoring for Syracuse in the second minute, capitalizing on assists from freshman midfielder Lieke Visser and senior back/midfielder Jordan Page.

 

Junior midfielder Alyssa Manley made it 2-0 just over three minutes later with her second goal of the season coming off an assist from Ulbrich.

 

Page increased Syracuse's lead to three goals when she scored on a penalty shot opportunity in the ninth minute. She scored again in the 13th minute, tallying her fourth goal of the season off her own rebound on a corner.

 

Ulbrich scored for a second time to make it 5-0 a minute later, using a pass from Page and Visser to score on a corner.

 

Visser notched her first goal of the season in the 38th minute as she created her own shot to score an unassisted goal.

 

Ulbrich tallied her fourth goal of the season and third of the match, taking passes from Visser and Page to score on a corner.

 

Page led the match with five shots - including three on goal - to go along with two goals and three assists. Ulbrich finished with four shots - three of which came on goal - to go with three goals and an assist.

 

Sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca Congel played all 70 minutes in the cage for Syracuse, tallying two saves to earn the win and improve to 3-0.

 

Ohio is back in action on Saturday (Sept. 6) for a neutral site game against the University of California in Bloomington, Ind. The match is slated to get underway at noon ET.

 

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